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March 1937' sAMq-EL [SH-SHALOM ET AL 2,075,065

' DISPLAY WINDOW Filed May 6, 1.936 2- Sheets-Sheet 1 Maich SAMU-EL [SH-SHALOM ET AL uwal Ml n00 DISPLAY WINDOW 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed May 6, 1.956

W VF FFUS Patented Mar. 30, 1937 PATENT OFFICE DISPLAY WINDOW Samu-el Ish-Shalom, Irving A. Aschheim, and Otto I. Bloom, New York, N. Y.

Application May 6, 1936, Serial No. 78,116

2 Claims.

This invention relates to display windows, show cases, display cases, display cabinets and similar structures wherein articles are displayed for observation through a transparent surface.

5 The object of this invention is to remove certain objections which are met with in the usual construction of such devices and to substitute for the undesirable features a new construction of greater merit. As generally arranged at the present time, display windows, show cases and similar devices consist of a sheet or section of transparent material encased in a housing. Such housing consists usually of a front section holding the glass, two side panels, a top and bottom section, and a rear door or panel providing access to the interior of the cabinet or the Window. Occasionally in the case of windows, the rear door is omitted and in cabinets the interior may contain shelves or stands upon which rests the merchandise intended for display. Essentially therefore, the general construction of such devices consists of an enclosure, one portion of which is composed of a vertically disposed sheet of transparent material, usually a sheet of plate glass for the purpose of permitting the merchandise within the enclosure to be seen. Such construction possesses the objection that the glass reflects light and produces on the glass images which are clearly perceptible to the beholder. Such light reflections create a glare which is irritating to the eyes and detract from the visibility of the displayed objects. Moreover, the reflected images which are formed create confusion and by their presence prevent a proper appreciation of the merchandise on exhibit.

In our invention we overcome these objectionable features by utilizing a flat sheet of glass which we tilt at such an angle from the vertical 40 that rays of light are deflected away from the eyes of the observer and on to one or more lightabsorbing surfaces which we provide adjacent to the sheet of glass. Other important elements of our invention consist in the utilization of panels or screens of high light-reflecting characteristics, such as mirrors, which we locate at the lateral margins of the tilted glass.

We are aware of the fact that efforts have been made in the past to obliterate the glare and re- 5 fiections characteristic of the conventional display windows by using curved sheets of glass as a substitute for the usual vertically disposed plane sheet. These curved sections of glass, however, are decidedly more expensive to manu- 55 facture than flat sheets, and also require Careful measurement and fitting into the frames arranged for their reception. Furthermore such curved sections of glass are more often made specially and to order, and in case of breakage the store owner is often compelled to wait sev- 5 eral weeks or longer for replacement of the broken curved section of glass.

The essential feature of our invention therefore, consists of utilizing a sheet of flat glass or other transparent material in a show window or 10 similar structure wherein said sheet of flat glass is tilted or inclined at an angle from the vertical for the purpose of diverting from the eyes of the person looking into the interior of such device reflected rays of light and eliminating undesir- 5 able images. Other features of the invention are hereinafter pointed out in the following description and claims appended thereto.

In the accompanying drawings, wherein several embodiments of the invention are shown, 20 Fig. 1 is a perspective view in section of a display structure made in accordance with this invention; Fig. 2 is a similar view of a modified structure; Fig. 3 is another embodiment of the invention; and Fig. 4 is a structure somewhat simi- 25 lar to that shown in Fig. 2, except that adjustable light-absorbing surfaces are provided.

With reference to the construction shown in Fig. 1. There, a store show window is disclosed which is provided with the usual bulk-head 38 30 rising from the sidewalk 21. A fiooris shown at 28 on which is erected the show-window platform 33, on which are placed the articles for display.

At 20a and 2% are shown two sheets of inclined flat glass or similar transparent material, the 35 lower sheet 20a having its lower end extending into a trough 39 between the bulk-head 38 and the show-window platform 33. The bottom of trough 39 is composed of or coated with a lightabsorbing material such as black paint, black 40 cloth or the like.- The lower glass section 20a is so inclined or positioned that the bottom end of the pane extends further in from the building line than the upper end. The upper edge of pane 20a. terminates at where it joins the 45 lower edge of the upper pane or section 2012. The upper section 2017 extends rearwardly at an angle and its upper end meets the soflit 32 of the window.

Pivoted at 35a to the upper edge of the bulkhead 38 is a panel 34:: having its inner face 5| or that surface nearest to the pane 20a composed of or coated with a light-absorbing medium such as a flat black paint, black velvet, cloth, or any similar material. Panel 34a is arranged so that it may be adjusted to various angles so as to afford greatest absorption of light rays, natural or artificial, at all times. A similar panel 34 is pivotally mounted at 35 to the lower edge of 5 transom 52 and said panel 34 also has its inner surface coated or otherwise provided with a lightabsorbing material similar to that described with respect to the lower panel 34a. The surface 32,

constituting a part of the ceiling or upper end of the display window is also coated or otherwise treated with a black material or other light-absorbing surfacing.

At 25 is shown light-reflecting surfaces such as mirrors, said surfaces being located at both lateral ends or edges of the inclined plates of glass a and 20b. The mirrors are arranged so that the edges of the angular pane which abut against them extend angularly with respect to the parallel and perpendicularly disposed front and 20 back edges of the mirrors. The rear vertical edge of each mirror is located some distance behind the angularly disposed edge of the pane so that a part of the mirror is located in back of the pane and the line of contact of the edge of the 25 pane with the mirror is thereby rendered substantially invisible so that the illusion of no pane of glass being used is greatly increased. The i flooring of the trough 39 may be provided with suitable means for draining rain-water, condensation or other forms of moisture.

In the structure shown in Fig. 2, the general construction of the window frame and other portions of the device are similar to those described with respect to Fig. 1. In Fig. 2 however, a single inclined fiat pane of glass 20 extends diagonally upward from the base or flooring 28 to the forward end of the sol-lit 32. Located in front of thepane adjacent to its upper end is a glass transom 30 of conventional construction and the mirrors 25 are also located at both lateral ends of the glass 20, as previously described with respect to the structure of Fig. 1. In the structure of Fig. 2, the inner surface 53 of bulk-head 38 as well as the upper surface 54 of flooring 28 is composed of or provided with a coating of lightabsorbing material, as explained with respect to the structure of Fig. 1.

In the structure of Fig. 3, two flat glass sections 26a and 20b are utilized in the manner similar to that explained with respect to the structure of Fig. 1, except that if a sofflt 32 be desired at the lower edge of transom 30, it may be accomplished by shortening the upper inclined pane 20b. The underside 55 of somt 32 is of 55 light-absorbent material or coated with such material to provide the desired light absorbing characteristics. The lower portion of the structure of Fig. 3 is similar to that described with respect to Fig. 1 and it is provided with the adjustable panel 34a as hereinbefore mentioned.

The structure of Fig. 4 is somewhat similar to that shown in Fig. 2, except that the lower end of inclined glass 20 is supported at the trough side of the show-window platform 33 while two inclined panels 34a and 36 are adjustably mounted with respect to one another in trough 39 so that they may be inclined to various positions and held in such adjusted positions by means of springs, one of which is indicated at 31 or other suitable mechanism. The surface 56 of the panel 36 is coated or composed of a black or other light-absorbing surface similar to the inner face of panel 34a. The underside of soflit 32 also constitutes a light-absorbing surface as herein before described.

The advantages obtained by the constructions herein described are numerous. Such constructions will allow. a clear and unmarred view of the objects on display. They remove the glare and images present in vertically placed panes of glass and by the constructions herein described the tilted or inclined panes herein disclosed are thereby rendered almost invisible.

While we have herein shown the inclined fiat glass panes in fixed positions for the purpose, it will be understood that such panes may be pivotally mounted or otherwise adjustably supported enabling them to be tilted to any advantageous angle and even moved to the vertical position common in present day construction. Furthermore the glass employed may be tinted, ribbed, of safety glass construction or possessed of any other desired characteristics.

What We claim is:

1. In a device of the character described, a flat, transparent pane through which articles placed behind it are visible to an observer standing in front of it, said pane being mounted at an inclination from the vertical so that its lower end is located further away from the observer than its upper end, and light-reflecting panels located at the lateral ends of the pane, the surfaces of said panels being disposed at an angle to those of the pane, each of said panels having parallel and vertical front and rear edges, the rear edges thereof being located at a distance behind the pane whereby a part of each of said panels is situated behind the pane.

2. In a device of the character described, a fiat transparent pane inclined from the vertical, so that its lower end is further away from an observer in front of the pane than its upper end, light absorbing surfaces located at the upper and lower ends of the pane, and light-reflecting panels at the lateral ends of said pane and meeting the pane in lines of juncture, the surfaces of said panels being located at an angle to the surfaces of the pane, each of said panels having a portion extending in back of one of the lines of juncture of the panel and pane throughout the length of the lines of juncture.

SAMU-EL ISH-SHALOM. IRVING A. ASCHHEIM. O'I'I'O I. BLOOM. 

